


A Garden of Primroses

by HugTheStorm



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Azran Legacy Spoilers, Child Abuse, Didn't know which one would fit so there's both, Hershel Has Anxiety, Hershel also learns to play piano and sing, Hershel and Henry please just actually talk you'd get along so well, Hershel loves flowers and gardening, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mentions of Randall's parents, Miracle Mask Spoilers, Multi, Randall's a dork but that's not a surprise, the spoilers are barely there but just in case
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-03-17 23:23:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18974503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HugTheStorm/pseuds/HugTheStorm
Summary: Primrose- young loveHershel Layton falls in love with a boy with wild red hair and adventure in his eyes and a boy with soft tawny hair and a voice like birdsong.An AU where the Layton family had always been in Stansbury, but kid Hershel was too anxious to go into town or to a public school. Until he meets Randall.





	1. Chapter 1

The Layton family just adopted a son, his name is Hershel Layton. Their car pulls up to their house, it’s a nice house with a beautiful garden in the front. Roland unbuckles and opens his car door, “We’re home.” He steps out of the car and starts looking for his house key. Lucille opens the car door for Hershel. He slowly climbs down out of the car, the poor kid is practically shaking. His new parents lead Hershel up to the front steps, Roland opens the door for them. The inside of the house is rather cozy, the living room is nice and quiet, with a small table on a rug and a large bookshelf that’s filled to the brim.

 

Hershel steps inside the house and looks around. He likes the bookshelf, it reminds him of his old home, they had always had a lot of books. Hershel could hardly read any of them though. “This is the main room, your room will be over here-” Lucille gently grabs his hand and leads him past a small kitchen over to a room. There’s a bed, and what looks like a new dresser, and a few shelves, though it’s not much. “You’ll be able to decorate this room however you’d like.” Hershel lets go of Lucille’s hand and peeks into the room, it’s a little empty but it’s nice. He walks back up to Lucille and she holds his hand again, “Now, your father is going to be making dinner, so why don’t I show you the rest of the house?”

 

Lucille takes Hershel on a tour of the house, showing him where the bathroom is, where her and Roland’s room is in case he ever needed anything, a small office in the back of the house, and finally, the backyard. Despite its small size, the backyard is full of plant life. Hershel steps out into the backyard with a look of amazement on his face. He decides that he likes the backyard very much; not as much as the garden though. Roland comes to the doorway to tell them that dinner is ready and they lead Hershel to the small dining room by the kitchen. 

 

His parents are getting all the food onto plates. Hershel starts climbing up into a chair, almost falling at one point. By the time he’s successfully climbed into his chair and is sitting down, there’s a plate of food in front of him. Hershel quickly starts eating. Roland smiles, “Do you like it?” Hershel pauses to nod then goes right back to eating. When they’re all finished eating, his parents take the plates and start cleaning everything up. Hershel yawns, today was a very busy day for a five year old. His ma notices, “It’s getting pretty late, would you like to call it a day and get some rest?” Hershel nods and slowly slips out of his chair.   
  


His pa picks him up and carries him to his room and they start helping him get ready for bed. Roland is tucking him in, “Do you need anything before we turn out the light?” Hershel shakes his head and yawns again. “Alright. Well, if you ever need anything, just call for us, alright?” He looks at them for a bit before nodding. “...Alright then… Goodnight Hershel!” They turn out the lights and leave to finish cleaning up. Hershel quickly falls asleep.

 

~~~~

 

Hershel wakes up to the smell of his parents cooking breakfast. He tries to go back to sleep but he can’t escape the day forever and eventually climbs out of bed and sleepily walks into the kitchen. Lucille is setting some plates on the table, “...Oh! Good morning Hershel! Did you have a nice sleep?” It takes Hershel a bit to process that since he’s still so sleepy but he nods. Roland is putting breakfast on the plates, “We’ve got breakfast ready, why don’t you come sit down and have a bite?” Hershel goes over to the table and climbs up onto his chair and begins to eat. Breakfast is quiet but that’s alright. Sunlight is filtering in through the windows and everything is peaceful.

 

Hershel is the first to finish eating. His pa gets up and takes his plate, “So, Hershel… We were wondering if you’d like to go to the park or see the shops around town. It might be a nice way for you to get to know the town. What do you think?” Hershel thinks about it for a bit, he seems really nervous about it, but he nods. Lucille smiles, “Well then, you can have some time to get ready if you’d like.” Hershel jumps down from his chair and runs off to his room to get dressed. 

 

Lucille and Roland are all prepared to go and are waiting for Hershel. He soons runs out of his room all dressed and grabs their hands. They head out into the chilly autumn weather. After getting through the residential area, they come to an area with a lot of shops. There’s quite a lot of people in this area and Hershel is getting terribly anxious, he makes sure to stay as close to his parents as possible. They pass by some shops with a lot of pretty things in the windows. Hershel is looking at them all but the sight of all the pretty trinkets isn’t enough to lessen his anxiety. His parents notice how overwhelmed he looks and they keep him close until they get to an area with less people.

 

Eventually they get to the park, it’s got a lot of space with plenty of trees and even a river near the back. Hershel is a lot happier to be in a less busy part of town but he still sticks close to his parents. After walking through the park for a bit, they stop by a bench, “Why don’t we take a break at this bench here?” Hershel starts trying to climb up onto the bench, his parents help him up and they sit down next to him. Hershel grabs Lucille’s hand again. He’s looking around the park but he doesn’t seem too keen to explore. They sit on the bench for a while, getting warmed by the sunshine and listening to all the birds singing.

 

There’s a bit of commotion coming from somewhere in the park, and some bushes start rustling. Hershel gets a little frightened and moves closer to his ma, he holds her hand tighter. She notices and looks at him with a concerned look in her eyes, “Is something the matter, dear?” Hershel nods. “...If you’d like, we can go back home.” Hershel thinks for a bit before shaking his head, and trying to be less scared. “...Alright then. Whatever you’re comfortable with is fine.” 

  
Then it gets more clear where the commotion is coming from. There’s a bit of what sounds like some boys yelling, and then a kid suddenly gets shoved out of the bushes that were rustling. Hershel jumps and almost squeezes Lucille’s hand to death. The kid has messy red hair, it’s even got a few twigs and dead leaves caught in it. He stumbles, trying to get up. And even though he’s a bit far off, he yells pretty loudly, “ ** _S- Stop it! You’re gonna get us caught!_** ” and rushes back into the bush. Hershel would very much like to go home now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is so short, I'll try to make them longer in the future.

As it got near lunchtime, they finally got up from the bench and headed home. Hershel has never been more thankful to be home in his life. He climbs up into his chair to watch as his parents start making lunch. He would help, but he’s too small to reach the counters. They’re actually baking a pie for lunch! Once it’s in the oven, his parents go to the living room to wait for it to bake. Hershel follows. His dad pulls out a puzzle to start working on.

 

Hershel walks up to him and points at the puzzle with a confused look on his face. Roland pauses what he’s doing, “...Hm? What is it Hershel? ...Do you want to see the puzzle I’m working on?” Hershel nods and climbs up to sit in Roland’s lap so he can get a better look at the puzzle. He reads the puzzle aloud for Hershel, which honestly doesn’t help him understand at all. “...Puzzles can be quite difficult at times, although it’s rather rewarding when you figure out the answer. Would you like to work this one out with me?” Hershel shakes his head and sticks his tongue out at the puzzle.

 

Eventually the pie is ready and Lucille takes it out of the oven. Roland helps set the table and get pieces of pie onto plates. Hershel climbs up into his chair as his parents also sit down at the table. Despite getting scared by whoever that kid was at the park, today has been a good day so far. 

 

~~~~

 

A week has passed since that day and Hershel is starting to get used to his new family. It's a nice sunny day out, though it's getting close to evening, and Lucille is out watering flowers in the garden. Hershel is with her. He's trying to help but the watering can is too big for him to hold, so Lucille bends down to his level and helps him hold it. Hershel giggles a bit, he looks really happy. He likes helping in the garden. Lucille smiles and leads him over to the last flower bed and helps him to water the flowers. Hershel's grip slips a bit and he almost drops the watering can. He makes a distressed noise and scrambles to catch it, spilling some of the water on the flowers. Lucille grabs on to the base watering can to help Hershel carry it, “... You’re doing just great Hershel!” Hershel is sticking out his tongue, trying not to drop the watering can again. He smiles as they finish watering the flowers.

 

Lucille takes the watering can, “I'll go put this back.” Hershel nods and stays by the flowers, he crouches down so he can get a better look at them. It's nice and quiet outside, until a small noise comes from behind the fence. Hershel looks at the fence for a second before deciding it was nothing and going back to looking at the flowers. It's silent for a bit, then, from seemingly nowhere, there's a small voice, barely above a whisper, “...Hey kid!” Hershel jumps and stares in the direction the voice came from, looking for whatever the voice belonged to.

 

Suddenly, wild red hair and a pair of eyes peek over the wall. Hershel tries to make himself smaller, hoping that the kid will just go away. “....Hey kid!!” The kid climbs onto the wall a bit, making more of him visible. He's got a band-aid on his face and his nice clothes are covered in dirt. Hershel shrinks back even more. “...Are you new here? I haven't seen you before.” The kid doesn't seem to notice Hershel's discomfort. Hershel gives a small nod, hoping that he'll go away if he answers the question. “...Cool!” The kid grins, he almost slips and falls off the wall but he manages to keep himself up. “Do you live here then?” Hershel nods again, he's starting to shake. The kid finally notices and he gets a worried look on his face. He's about to ask if Hershel's alright but he sees Lucille coming back and he yelps and scrambles off the wall.

 

Lucille notices Hershel's upset look and how he's trembling, “Are you alright dear?” Hersh turns and scrambles up to hide behind her. He points at the wall where the redhead kid just was. Lucille looks where he's pointing, “...Did something happen over there, Hershel?” Hershel nods, he makes a noise when Lucille moves away from him and towards the wall, looking over it, “...There doesn't seem to be anything there, Hershel.” That's strange, Hershel could have sworn that weird kid was just there. He tries to climb up onto the wall to get a look for himself, he manages to get up there and his ma was right! The kid's gone!  "... Well if there was something here, I'm sure it's gone by now. Why don't you come inside for dinner?" Lucille picks Hershel up and carries him inside.

 

Hershel climbs into his chair at the table while his parents put the food on the table. Lucille and Roland spend dinner talking about each other's day was. And Hershel spends dinner trying to stay awake, in his eyes, today was rather busy. Once they're all done eating, Lucille takes the dishes to the sink. Hershel yawns and slowly climbs out of his chair. Roland scoops him up into his arms and carries him off to his bedroom, where he tucks him into bed and tells him stories till he drifts off to sleep.

 

~~~~

 

Hershel jolts awake. There are tears streaming down his face and he clambers out of bed. The thought of having to navigate the dark hallway is frightening but he runs down the hallway into his parents' room. He climbs up onto the bed and tries to shake Lucille awake, his voice is soft and shaky, "... M- Mum…" There's a bit of shifting on the bed as she wakes up, "... Hershel?" Hershel doesn't have the strength to say anything more and just hugs her. Lucille comes to the conclusion that he had a nightmare and she hugs him back. "Everything's going to be alright, Hershel. I'm here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took so long to get this out. I lost access to discord for a while and the rp that I'm using to write this is on there. And I also just lost the will to write for a bit. But I'm back and I promise it won't take this long in the future unless something comes up.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day is very nice. Hershel is out in the garden, sitting amongst the flowers, watching a few butterflies flutter about. "... Hi!!! How's it going, kid?" That scary kid is on the wall again. Hershel manages to not jump  _as_ bad this time, he looks at him. "... It's pretty nice out today, huh?" The kid smiles a bit, "... I was thinking about showing you a puzzle... You look pretty smart. How about it?" Hershel's face scrunches up and he sticks out his tongue. The answer is no. The kid looks rather disappointed at that, "... Well, it's not like I need help anyway! I'm the smartest kid in town, I can do it on my own!" Hershel decides to start ignoring him and goes back to looking at the butterflies. One flutters over to Hershel and lands on his nose. The kid gasps, "Wow!! That's a really pretty butterfly!!" Hershel was trying to look at the butterfly, but he sneezes and the butterfly flies off to go rest on a flower instead. "... I gather you don't talk much, huh? That's okay! My name's Randall!" Hershel is starting to get a bit uncomfortable. He makes a soft noise. Randall notices his discomfort and slips down from the wall, "... Well, I've got treasures to find! See ya later!" He runs off.

  
Hershel runs inside the house after that. At least Randall realized Hershel doesn't really like talking. He's resting by the door when he hears it, it's a sound he knows well, the soft melody of a piano is coming from a room in the house. He scrambles to his feet and runs into the room, expecting to see his brother. But he's not here. Instead, he sees his mom sitting at the piano. She doesn't notice him at first, caught up in playing. Hershel climbs up onto the piano bench so he can watch. When the song she's playing ends, she notices him, "Oh! Hello Hershel." Hershel is quiet before looking up at Lucille, "... T- ... Teach me?" She looks a bit surprised for a moment, "You want to learn how to play the piano?" She smiles, "Of course I'll teach you, dear." Hershel smiles, he looks very excited to be learning. Lucille starts showing him all the notes. She encourages him to play a few. Hershel plays a few notes, but he can only play them one at a time. Lucille spends a while teaching him to play. He isn't very good yet since he's only just started, but he'll get better with time.

 

By the time the lesson is done, it's nearing lunchtime. So Lucille goes to help Roland cook. Hershel stays in the music room and keeps messing with the piano. When his parents call him out to the dining room for lunch, he runs to the table and climbs up into his chair. He starts rushing to eat his lunch. Roland chuckles a bit, "You certainly seem happy today, Hershel." Hershel nods, he's still smiling from his piano lesson. "I must say, what you were playing did sound rather nice." Hershel looks up at him, "... R- Really?" His soft voice is filled with happiness. Roland smiles, "Why, of course, my boy!" Hershel looks so happy. He tries to hug Roland but he can't quite reach. Both because of his small arms and the fact that he's trying not to fall out of his chair. "Woah there, let's not fall now." Roland gets up and goes over to Hershel so he can actually hug him. Hershel hugs him as tight as he can then goes back to eating.

 

When Hershel finishes his food, he climbs down from his chair and runs outside into the garden. He wants to see if the butterflies are still there. And they are! There are a few more bugs as well, ladybugs and a dragonfly. Hershel gently picks up a ladybug and sets it on his hand. He gazes at it in wonderment, it's so pretty. The ladybug stays put for a bit before flying off. After a moment of peaceful quiet though, there's a lot of rustling. It's hard to tell where it's coming from. The sudden noise startles Hershel and he runs back inside and peeks out through the doorway, trying to see what's making that frightening noise. There doesn't seem to be anything in the garden though. He waits there for a bit, then decides that it's safe and goes back outside. As he steps off the porch though, there's a loud snapping noise, and Randall yelps as he falls out of the tree in the garden. Hershel jumps like a frightened kitten and squeaks. He should go check if Randall's alright but he's too scared to move. "Owww..." It takes him a minute, but Randall gets up on his feet, rubbing his back. Hershel stares at him, he's thinking about running inside. Randall turns to Hershel, "... Sorry about falling into your yard... I- I wasn't doing anything bad, I promise!" He smiles a bit. Hershel takes a step back, he looks terribly anxious. Randall pauses, noticing his discomfort, "Um..." Hershel makes a soft little noise. He's trying to get himself to call for mom, but it's as if his throat is closed up. "... I should probably get home before dad finds out I've been gone all day..." Randall looks up and gives Hershel a small smile, "See ya." He climbs over the wall and runs down the street.

 

Hershel runs up to the wall and tries to look over it. He can see Randall for a second before turns down a path and vanishes from view. Hershel isn't that upset about Randall leaving. He says goodbye to the bugs and flowers before going back inside. His parents are sitting on the sofa. Lucille is reading and Roland is solving a puzzle. Hersh climbs up onto the sofa to sit next to Lucille. She makes some room for him so he won't fall off. He's thinking, that Randall kid seems nice, he'd like to be friends with him, but he's awfully scary. Lucille notices how he seems to be deep in thought, "Are you alright, Hershel? You seem to be thinking hard." Hershel looks up at her, "...Huh?" He then realizes what she said and nods. Lucille looks at him for a second longer before going back to reading and letting him think. He suddenly gets an idea and scrambles off the couch and out to the backyard. Randall said something about finding treasure earlier. Hershel starts looking around the yard for something. He finds lots of interesting things, but they aren't quite what he's looking for...

 

Hershel has to search for a while, but he finds what he's been looking for! It's a pretty little rock and it sure looks like treasure to him. He's going to give it to Randall the next time he sees him. Hershel runs back inside and sets the rock down on the dresser. While he was searching, his parents had begun to make dinner. Hershel goes into the kitchen and tries to help them as best he can. He can't exactly reach the counters though. They pull a chair up to the counter and pick Hershel up and set him down on it. He helps them with the simplest parts of the meal. He does his best to help. They all work together and get dinner ready and sit down to eat. After dinner, Lucille and Roland clean up while Hershel goes to bed. He's excited to see Randall again and give him the treasure he found, but right now, he's very sleepy. His parents come into the room and say goodnight as he drifts off to sleep.


End file.
